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Chapter 65

Divorceal-Ṭalāq ( الطلاق )

12 verses • revealed at Medinan

»The surah that issues the lawful procedures by which one may Divorce and that calls for fair parting between believers if marriage is to end, in accordance with what is right and within God’s prescribed limits, while promising ease and deliverance for the truly God-fearing who undergo this trauma. It takes its name from verse 1 ff. concerning “divorce” (ṭalāq). The surah strongly urges people to observe God’s regulations and guidance. To reinforce this they are reminded of the fate of earlier disobedient peoples and the rewards of the obedient. God’s power and knowledge are emphasized at the end (verse 12).«

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Yusuf Ali: In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1
يا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِذا طَلَّقتُمُ النِّساءَ فَطَلِّقوهُنَّ لِعِدَّتِهِنَّ وَأَحصُوا العِدَّةَ ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ رَبَّكُم ۖ لا تُخرِجوهُنَّ مِن بُيوتِهِنَّ وَلا يَخرُجنَ إِلّا أَن يَأتينَ بِفاحِشَةٍ مُبَيِّنَةٍ ۚ وَتِلكَ حُدودُ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَتَعَدَّ حُدودَ اللَّهِ فَقَد ظَلَمَ نَفسَهُ ۚ لا تَدري لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ يُحدِثُ بَعدَ ذٰلِكَ أَمرًا

Yusuf Ali

O Prophet!1 When ye do divorce women,2 divorce them at their prescribed periods,I and count (accurately), their prescribed periods: And fear God your Lord:3 and turn them not out of their houses, nor shall they (themselves) leave,4 except in case they are guilty of some open lewdness, those are limits set by God. and any who transgresses the limits of God, does verily wrong his (own) soul: thou knowest not if perchance God will bring about thereafter some new situation.5
  • Note that in the first instance the Prophet is himself addressed individually, as the Teacher and representative of the Community. Then the actual directions: “when ye . . .”: are addressed to the Community collectively.
  • “Of all things permitted by law, Divorce is the most hateful in the sight of God”: see Introduction to this Sūra. The general directions and limitations of Divorce may be studied in 2:228-232, 236-237, 241, and notes; also 4:35.
  • The prescribed period (see last note) is in the interests of the wife, of the husband, of an unborn child (if there is any), and of sex laws in nature, and therefore the elementary dictates of refined human society. In English Law the six months interval between the decree nisi and the decree absolute in divorce attains the same purpose in a round-about way. The Commentators suggest that the divorce should not be pronounced during the courses. Read with 2:222, this implies that any incipient differences between husband and wife should not be forced to an issue at a time when sex is least attractive and almost repulsive. Everything should be done to strengthen the social and spiritual aspects of marriage and keep down stray impulses of animal instinct. The parties are to think seriously in a mood of piety, keeping the fear of God in their minds.
  • As Islam treats the married woman as a full juristic personality in every sense of the term, a married woman has a right, in the married state, to a house or apartment of her own. And a house or apartment implies the reasonable expenses for its upkeep and for her own and her children’s maintenance. And this is obligatory not only in the married state, but during the ? iddah, which is necessarily a most trying period for the woman. During this period she must not only not be turned out, but it is not decent for her to leave of her own accord, lest the chances of reconciliation should be diminished: see the next note.
  • A reconciliation is possible, and is indeed recommended at every stage. The first serious differences between the parties are to be submitted to a family council on which both sides are represented (4:35); divorce is not to be pronounced when mutual physical attraction is at an ebb (n. 5506); when it is pronounced, there should be a period of probationary waiting; dower has to be paid and due provision has to be made for many things on equitable terms; every facility has to be given for reconciliation till the last moment, and impediments are provided against hasty impulse leading to rupture. Thou knowest not if perchance God will bring about thereafter some new situation.
  • ʿIddat, as a technical term in divorce law, is explained in n. 254 to 2:228. Its general meaning is “a prescribed period”: in that general sense it is used in 2:185 for a prescribed period of fasting.